Movie review: Frances McDormand is a force in Three Billboards’

Thursday

Nov 16, 2017 at 2:05 PMNov 16, 2017 at 2:05 PM

Dana Barbuto More Content Now

You don’t want to mess with Frances McDormand’s avenging mother in Martin McDonagh’s sharp, dark comedy “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” Simply put, her Mildred Hayes is fierce, unflappable, tenacious, brave, compassionate, foul mouthed and just about any other adjective you can think up. Just give her the Oscar, already.

Equally impressive is Sam Rockwell’s dim-witted police officer who dares to take on Mildred. For years, Rockwell has been steadily turning in solid performances (“The Way Way Back,” McDonagh’s “Seven Psychopaths”) and this turn just might be his best ever. That’s no hyperbole. As hot-headed Officer Dixon, Rockwell is subtle and surprising, as an immature Mama’s boy with a taste for violence. Give him the supporting actor Oscar, already. And then there’s Woody Harrelson as the town’s revered chief of police, William Willoughby. Harrelson hasn’t been so charmingly funny since his days behind the bar on “Cheers.”

The movie, which Irish playwright McDonagh, an Oscar-winner for “In Bruges,” also wrote, picks up months after the unsolved murder and rape of Mildred’s daughter. Mom is Hulk-angry at the police in Ebbing, Missouri. So much so, she rents three billboards on the outskirts of town — at $5,000 per month — to call out the local cops with controversial messages directed at Willoughby. Her goal is to motivate the cops to “concentrate their minds some,” instead of “eating donuts and busting 8-year-olds.” The messages, in black letters on a red background, read: “Still No Arrests?” “Raped While Dying,” and “How Come, Chief Willoughby?” No surprise, they draw the wrath of townspeople, young and old, who retaliate against Mildred. But she’s game for anything McDonagh’s masterful script throws her way. Just watch her make short work of the town’s priest in one scene and the local dentist in another. Ouch!

McDonagh’s story of vengeance and justice and love, offers no answers and doesn’t always go down easy. But given McDonagh’s whip-smart track record (“Seven Psychopaths,” “In Bruges”), there’s a lot of humor among the heartache. The warts-and-all characters, Mildred and especially Dixon, have moments of cruelty, yet they are so fully realized and well-acted that when tiny moments of compassion surface, you offer forgiveness. One character sums it up: “Hate never solved nothing.”

“Three Billboards” showcases brilliant work from top to bottom, with a supporting cast that includes John Hawkes as Mildred’s abusive ex-husband, Lucas Hedges (an Oscar nominee for “Manchester by the Sea”) as their son, Caleb Landry Jones (“Get Out”) as the proprietor of Ebbing Advertising Co. and Peter Dinklage as the brave man who dares take Mildred on a date. The movie belongs to McDormand, though. Her command performance ranks right with her other award-winners: An Emmy for “Olive Kitteridge,” a Tony for “Good People” and the Oscar for the Coen Brother’s gem, “Fargo.”

— Dana Barbuto may be reached at dbarbuto@ledger.com or follow her on Twitter @dbarbuto_Ledger.